HELP! Boot issue with my Megatouch Force Evo 2008

[oldgamesrbetter]

It's been a while since i've been here! Last time I was building a bartop around 2008 and finished it in 2009. Has it really been that long? Sheesh. Anyways.. here's a video of my problem this time:



I love this machine, but every time I start it up I have to wiggle this wire until it boots correctly. Anyone have a solution? Thanks!

[mahkeymike]

Its looks like that is the power on jumper wire. I am not sure why it is turning of when it becomes loose. It basicly acts like a power button you would have in a computer tower. Its hard to tell but when it falls out, maybe the wire is exposed and it shorting out against a pin sticking out bottom of the IOboard. Thats all i got so far untill you take the board out so i can see whats going on in there.

Yeah that is J2 , its used to ground ps_on so that when the bios battery goes dead and the bios setting to turn on after power failure gets reset the machine will still turn on after power failure. Theres a few things you can do, but all require taking the board out.

1. replace the battery, its probably dead and connect a keyboard and reset the bios to always turn on after power loss
2. try to fix that connector so it makes a good connection and put some electrical tape over it if its shorting out against something.

[oldgamesrbetter]

You're the man. Thanks for all of the info.

I've replaced the motherboard before so I have no problem taking it out. It's just always had this issue with that darn cord.

I'll try replacing the battery and holding it together with electrical tape. Then i'll report back. Crossing my fingers.

EDIT: Forgot to say. It was just recently I replaced the motherboard and it had a new battery. So I don't think it was that. Since the cord was doing this for both boards in the machine.

[mahkeymike]

The thing is, i have removed that complete jumper wireing and never had problems as long as the battery is new and the bios is set to always power on after power failure. So if your battery was replaced, then take that wire completely out. You will have to manually touch the ps_on pin to gnd to get it to boot so you can get into the bios by tapping the del key on a keyboard.

[orizzle]

if you want to jury rig it, short the green wire on the power supply with ground

[oldgamesrbetter]

What? Uh, hey.. 7 years later? REALLY? Where did the time go?

I kinda just left the issue be.. and it still does the same thing.. now i'm back to trying to fix it!

1. replace the battery, its probably dead and connect a keyboard and reset the bios to always turn on after power loss
2. try to fix that connector so it makes a good connection and put some electrical tape over it if its shorting out against something.

1. I'm getting a new battery today and replacing it. I went to the BIOS and the option to always turn on after power loss was already checked!
2. The thing is with that connector it doesn't always work when it's fully on.. sometimes you gotta move it around and find just the right spot. So bizarre.

Also.. I don't know much about Megatouch options.. Does anybody how do I get to the menu when I can chance the announcements & such? It still has an announcement where it says "Welcome to so and so VFW." It'd be nice to put random announcements on there.
^Nevermind this. Found a YouTube video on what button to press.

Also are there any keys on the keyboard that do anything besides escape to exit a program? I noticed I hit some random key and it rebooted. Can't seem to find any information online. Thanks!

[oldgamesrbetter]

UPDATE! I changed the CR2032 battery ANNNNND….. same thing happens.. no change… WOMP WOOOOMP

To reiterate… it’s this chord connected to this black connector that I have to adjust to make it start… if it’s not connected.. it doesn’t boot but it’ll make some sounds like the dollar bill slot.

[allenc]

what dose that plug goto ?  I was thinking the counter but that plugs into the I/O board
I found a picture of the board on eBay,  I think that plug plugs right back into the motherboard and that is what turns on the motherboard I think ,
I would unplug and plug them in on both sides a few time to clean the connections ,  maybe ohm it out and wiggle it to make sure the wire is good

the aurora I got for $25 had 2 bad caps on the lcd monitor power supply I replace the caps, 
and i had to jumper the power supply green to black to get it to boot the first time,  I have no idea how long this thing has been sitting, and it has fired up every time from the first time I jumped the power supply

[oldgamesrbetter]

Well that’s interesting. I went to go look at what the plug goes to and it goes to two places pictured below… one not too far away from the plug and one on the other side of the board after taking the screws out… now for the odd part I never noticed.. next to the spot on the other side of the board, there is a battery missing! (Unless it’s not a battery spot and I’m just mistaking it as one) But it’s not the same size as the cr2032.. it’s smaller size.. would anybody know what size it is and could that be the issue?

[Megatouchmike]

Splice the green wire from the power supply and short it to ground. Easiest way to fix this

[oldgamesrbetter]

Splice the green wire from the power supply and short it to ground. Easiest way to fix this

Do you have a video or tutorial on this? I get the basic idea but I don’t want to screw it up and destroy my machine, you know? I’m not an expert on these at all but if it’s relatively easy, I can follow along. Is there any soldering involved with shorting it to the ground?

[Megatouchmike]

Splice the green wire from the power supply and short it to ground. Easiest way to fix this

Do you have a video or tutorial on this? I get the basic idea but I don’t want to screw it up and destroy my machine, you know? I’m not an expert on these at all but if it’s relatively easy, I can follow along. Is there any soldering involved with shorting it to the ground?

I don't know of any videos but it's really as simple as it sounds.  Strip back the insulation of the green power supply wire.  Get another wire and connect one end to the green wire, another end to any ground.

[allenc]

that is not for a battery that is another location for the security key,,

the battery is on the CPU board under the I/O board next to that black plug

[oldgamesrbetter]

that is not for a battery that is another location for the security key,,

the battery is on the CPU board under the I/O board next to that black plug

Thanks!

[oldgamesrbetter]

Splice the green wire from the power supply and short it to ground. Easiest way to fix this

Do you have a video or tutorial on this? I get the basic idea but I don’t want to screw it up and destroy my machine, you know? I’m not an expert on these at all but if it’s relatively easy, I can follow along. Is there any soldering involved with shorting it to the ground?

I don't know of any videos but it's really as simple as it sounds.  Strip back the insulation of the green power supply wire.  Get another wire and connect one end to the green wire, another end to any ground.

Ahh after some searching I think I get it.. with another wire connect it from the green wire to a black wire on the power supply.. couldn't wrap my head around that.. i'll try that!

[oldgamesrbetter]

Guess what? I rigged the green wire with an extra wire to a ground wire! Also guess what?! It didn’t do anything 🥲 It still works literally the same with an extra wire inside lol.

It tries to boot but says “🔎 No input signal. Check connection.” And keeps doing that until I wiggle the wire in the right place and turn it on. Then will give me the “beep” that it’s booting up. Takes 3-5 min to find the right spot for it to want to boot.

So it’s exactly the same. Back to square 1.

Don’t mind my wire work. It all fits when I shove it in there. (That’s what she said)

[allenc]

whatever wire you are wiggling you need to ohm it out with a meter, and ohm out the connect to the back side of the circuit board, make sure its not a bad solder joint from being wiggled , or if the wire has a bad crimp or a broken trace on the circuit board of the connector wiggles around 

[mahkeymike]

I hate working on 20+ year old machines. Wires are brittle, solder joints are cracked...ect...ect